Chapter Four - Safe

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Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. She owns the characters, the plot, and everything associated with the Twilight series. I own nothing. I just love putting my little "what ifs" down for all the world to see.

I raced frantically through Canada, racing desperately back to my love. I stared, for the millionth time, at the clock on my cell phone while still racing onward. Five minutes. I now had five minutes to reach the love of my life before she awoke to an airless underground prison, one that was sure to kill her again within minutes. I ran, if possible, even faster than before. I was now about ten miles from our meadow. Ten miles that separated me and that beautiful woman I was so desperately in love with. I could hardly wait to stroke that soft, brown hair, kiss her gently, and tell her all the "I love you"s that I never thought I would be able to tell her. I would hold her close and make sure she knows that I will never leave her again. Unless, of course, she wanted me to leave. After all I put her through, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. I had broken her heart and left her in mortal danger, yet her last words had still been "Edward, I love you." These words had a different effect on me now. I still felt absolutely terrible at what I had done. I still missed my Bella so dearly it hurt. Instead of being overcome with grief remembering these words, however, I was now overcome with determination. I was determined to get my Bella out of there if it was the last thing I did.

I reached the edge of our meadow. One minute left. As I started to head toward her grave, I saw that someone had already reached her. The grave was dug open, leaving only an empty casket and a light mingling of her beautiful scent and decay. There was a note taped to the headstone. I picked it up.

Dear Edward,

Hope you don't mind, but I told Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and Rose what was going on with Bella. If she's out already, one of them probably got to her before you did. I couldn't risk what would happen if no one could reach her in time. I saw Carlisle and Esme taking a plane and reaching her first, so I gave them this note to put here. She's in good hands. I can see that.

- Alice

I read the note with and enormous sigh of relief. Bella was in good hands. Carlisle had centuries of experience being a doctor. She probably had a better chance of making it with him around than with anybody else. I hate to admit it, but that included me as well. Smiling at the prospect of seeing my love once more, I made my way towards our old house.

As I approached the house, I could hear Esme's thoughts running through her head.

Poor Bella! I really want to help her, but I can't stand to see her that way. She's such a sweet girl, too. Oh, I just can't stand to see Bella that way!

An image flashed into my mind of Bella in her open grave. Her beautiful face was still twisted in a mask of fear, her skin was sagging around her face. She was very thin, and seemed to be literally all skin and bones. The most chilling thing of all was the complete stillness and silence coming from her. Not a single breath. Not a single heartbeat.

This image stopped me in my tracks for the second time that day. It took all the strength I had to get up off my knees. I had to keep telling myself that this wasn't Bella. Not anymore. She was back. Eventually, I was able to pull myself to my feet. I could hear Esme's dry sobs coming from outside the house. She was standing by the front door. When she heard me approach, she looked up. I gave a sort of half-smile.

"She's not going to stay that way, mom" I told her, "she'll be healthy in no time." I said that last part just as much to assure myself than to assure Esme. She hugged me, still sobbing. I understood. Esme saw Bella as a daughter, and a member of the family.

"I'm going to go inside", I told her. "I want to be there for her when she wakes up." Esme nodded. "Are you going to be okay?" I asked. She nodded. She still seemed very shaken by the whole experience, but she was ready to enter the house again. If I'm going to help her recover, she thought, I have to see her alive. I'm not helping the situation by standing outside and crying about it.

"I'm sorry for going to pieces like this.", she sobbed. "It's just...I can't see Bella like that. I just can't." I nodded.

"It's hard for me, too." I replied.

As we went inside, Carlisle popped his head out of the door to his office. "She's back." He announced. "She's not conscious yet, but she's back." I raced into the office and sat down in a chair by her side, gazing at her face. Esme followed soon after. All at once, it became deja vous. I could her heart trying to beat, yet sounding like an air pump. I could hear the EKG measuring her heart's attempts to beat. Alice came in and sat down on a chair in the corner, gazing at Bella. Emmett entered the room quietly. His normal tough-guy appearance was now mingled with a look of sadness and deep concern. "She's going to need a lot of blood transfusions." Carlisle announced. I knew this already. This time, though, I would wait until after he stuck the needle in to wrap her up in blankets. "Her time...away has also left her very hypothermic." Carlisle continued "She'll need to be warmed up quite a bit". With a single nod, Emmett ran into the next room and came back a quarter of a second later with what appeared to be about ten blankets. I gently stroked Bella's hand. My beautiful love was right here and breathing. It was short, shallow breaths, but she was breathing. It was a start. Carlisle stuck the needle into her arm.

Almost immediately, the bright red blood began to flow. It flowed from the IV bag straight into her veins. I took about five of the blankets that Emmet had brought and wrapped them gently and tightly around her. I leaned over and kissed her cheek. I began to gently stroke her hair. I hummed her favorite lullaby, the one I had written just for her. I imagine I didn't look as anxious now as I did in the vision. Now, I knew she was going to be all right.

About four hours passed by. It took several bags of blood to get Bella back to her normal levels. It was four hours of worry, torment, and guilt. I had done this to her. I had left her alone with Victoria and Laurent in the area. If I hadn't left her like that, she'd have been safe all along. She wouldn't have been attacked by Laurent and she wouldn't be in danger from Victoria. Even if Victoria was still after her, there would at least be me to protect her. I mean, I basically left her safety in the care of werewolves. Werewolves! Those volatile and immature dogs! And look what happened! My eyes were drawn back to her face. She looked as beautiful as ever. Her face was only slightly paler than her usual color now, and her breaths were becoming deeper.

"She's sleeping now." Carlisle informed us. "We should just let her rest."

What truly worried me was the look on her face. There were bags under her eyes, as if she hadn't slept soundly in a long time. There was a deep sadness in her expression, even in her sleep. She looked as if she hadn't been truly happy in a long time. A single tear rolled down her cheek. I softly brushed it away. "It's all right, Bella." I whispered to her. "No one is going to hurt you anymore."

About an hour into her slumber, I began to see images of trees in my head. It looked as if someone was running through the woods. I began to wonder if there was a wolf hanging around the house. That couldn't be a werewolf, though, could it? It felt as if it was someone very close by. This seemed different, though. The sky I could see in my mind seemed to be much darker than the sky was right now. The person's eyes were sweeping back and forth, as if they were searching for something. Searching for...me! No! please come back! a beautiful voice called. Please come back!

I recognized that voice at once, both in my head and from the way my beautiful Bella had mumbled it. The audible murmur didn't reflect the pure panic in her thoughts. It was Bella. My Bella. My beautiful love was having a nightmare. I gently picked her up. I held her close and kissed the top of her head. I stroked her hair gently and whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, Bella", I told her. "It's only a bad dream. It's all right. No one's going to hurt you anymore. I'm going to make sure of that." Her face was now resting on my shoulder. I pulled her close, carefully trying not to crush her. The five blankets that were wrapped around her would act as a barrier between her and my icy skin. My fingers lightly brushed her cheek. She was still far too cold. Her skin felt only slightly warmer than mine. Normally, it felt as warm as a soothing hot bath on an icy cold day. Now, it felt about the same temperature as any other object in the room. She was nowhere near as warm as she should be.

Wait, I had just read her mind! How? I gazed at her face. The running was beginning to slow into jogging. The fantic tension was beginning to fade. Still, I could see her dreams so clearly in my head. How many times had I sat by her bed and wished I could see what she was dreaming? How many times had I wondered what was behind those sleepy little mumbles. Now, I could see them as clearly as if I were in her dreams with her! I held her close, breathing in as much of her sweet scent as I could. It was a beautiful combination of roses, campfires, and ocean air. However, now it was mixed with many other scents that didin't normally go with Bella. There was just about every scent from rotten eggs to roasting cinnamon.

It was at that instant that I figured it out. It was her blood. All those blood transfusions had given her the different scents. It had also allowed me to read her mind, just as if it were anyone else's. It would probably fade away in a few months, when her own blood cells began to replace the donated ones. For now, I was able to watch her dream and chase her nightmares away. That meant quite a lot to me.

Within seconds of my taking her into my arms, her nightmare began to fade away. It lost it's intensity. In less than a minute the frantic search had become a pleasant stroll. A small smile appeared on her face. I pulled her closer. For the thousandth time that day, I wondered just how extensive the pain that I had caused her really was. How often had she been having these nightmares? How long have these dark circles been under her eyes like that? How long has this deep sadness haunted her? I kissed the top of her head again. She had been really deeply hurt by this. I could see that now, and I felt like a monster for it. "Edward", she whispered. Her thoughts were calm now, no longer frantic and panicked as they were less than a minute ago.

"I'm right here, my love." I answered. "I'm never going to leave you like that again." She smiled. I'd missed seeing her beautiful smile. It was one thing I had really been looking forward to seeing this morning when I first entered that meadow. For the first time that day, I really began to feel like it was all going to be all right. She was going to make a full recovery. Then, she would either hate me for what I had done, or she would forgive me for it and still love me. I knew I didn't deserve the latter, after what I'd done to her. Still, I couldn't help but hope.

At exactly that moment, Alice came bursting into the room. She looked frantic. Instantly, the vision she had just seen came into my head. I wondered how I could have missed it as it was happening. Before Alice could utter a single word, I already knew what had happened.

The wolves had found and killed Laurent. Tanya's coven thought that we had sent them. Irina was now on her way here, intent on destroying the precious human that her Laurent had been killed over.

Bella.

So, that was chapter 4. Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed it. Please review! I love reviews!

Thanks so much to everyone that reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it. I especially want to thank Sea of Topaz for reviewing every chapter. Thanks so much!

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